VHS Video

Parody & Spoof

The best Christmas material from two-and-a-half decades of Saturday Night Live is collected in this video, which gets off to a raucous start by presenting Chevy Chase's (literally) unbalanced rendition of President Gerald Ford decorating the White

The best Christmas material from two-and-a-half decades of Saturday Night Live is collected in this video, which gets off to a raucous start by presenting Chevy Chase's (literally) unbalanced rendition of President Gerald Ford decorating the White House Christmas tree. A number of memorable Christmas satires appear, including Eddie Murphy's spoof of Mr. Rodgers, Ana Gasteyer appearing in the "Martha Stewart Topless Christmas Special," and even Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah Song." Some of the best material is from the show's early freewheeling years: a classic bit with guest Candice Bergen, playing an uptight newswoman, being suitably offended while interviewing an irresponsible and utterly sleazy toy manufacturer (Dan Ackroyd); John Belushi doing a silent yet brilliant turn as a hard-drinking department store Santa; and the entire original cast taking part in an elaborate (by the show's early standards) production number. Also appearing in the video compilation are cast members Bill Murray, Jane Curtin, Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, and Dana Carvey, as well as guests Steve Martin, Danny DeVito, Paul Simon, William Shatner, and Alec Baldwin (who visits the NPR ladies to deliver a wickedly deadpan talk about his Christmas balls). Saturday Night Live has been notoriously uneven over the years, but this video is a full stocking of consistently inspired writing and performances. --Robert J. McNamara

Somewhere in the world, there are probably people who don't understand why Mike Myers's character, Wayne Campbell, is funny--which is too bad. Granted, the laughs are often cheap and silly, but there's no one who can embody a comic character and riff within that character the way Myers does. Wayne and his pal Garth (Dana Carvey) were fixtures on Saturday Night Live before the unexpected success of Wayne's World, which is about what happened when they tried to take their local cable-access show citywide. This time, they want to stage Waynestock, a mammoth rock festival in their little Chicago suburb, even as Wayne copes with girlfriend Tia Carrere's interest in record-company exec Christopher Walken. For extra fun, Garth gets involved with the babelicious Kim Basinger. Yes, the humor is scattershot and the plot is lame--but you'll find yourself laughing nonetheless. --Marshall Fine

The reverend Ray Porter, a TV evangelist, and his flamboyant, but faithful wife are nothing less than con artists. When Bill and Claire decide to reclaim the $50,000 stolen from her family by theRev. Porter, all hell breaks loose.